Even as Dalit politics loses steam in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Bihar today has two Dalit leaders, Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi, in the BJP-led Central government. But Chirag Paswan, son of the weathervane politician Ram Vilas Paswan, is a name to reckon with. It contested as many as 134 Assembly seats and had candidates in all the seats contested by the JD(U). At the time, however, there was a question mark over what prompted Ram Vilas’ exit from the NDA. In Ram Vilas’ public meetings, the air would ring with cries of “Goonje dharti aasman, Ram Vilas Paswan” (earth and sky echo the name of Ram Vilas Paswan).